Double belt carrier



Jan. 25, 1938. N- 2,106,514

nousms BELT CARRIER Filed April 12, 1935 2 sheets-sheet 1 N SS INVENTOR.

Wm W V L.B

A TTORNEY Jan. 25, 1938.

J. BALDWIN DOUBLE BELT CARRIER Z'Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 12, 1935 JNVENTOR.

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ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 25, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT,TQ FFICE t 2,106,514

' DOUBLE BELT omit Inn, j I James L. Baldwin, Oak Park-Ill. Application April 12, 1935, No.,16, 009 7 Claims. (01. -19 1 '5)* My invention relates-to improvements in double belt carrier in which a single belt is employed and is placed to pass over suitable pulleys or idlers wherever necessaryand doubled to carry papers or light parcels between the two strands of belt; and the objects of my improvement are, first, to make a simple, cheap and practical device; second, to carry papers safely, swiftly, and noiselessly from one place to another be that up or down or horizontally; third, to provide a means for causing the double strands of the belt to tightly contact one another so that any paper placed therebetween will not fall therefrom by gravity; fourth, to provide adjustable pulley shaft brackets so the beltpulleys can ;be properly placed in position; and other objects to become apparent from the description to follow.

To describe my invention so thatothers versed in the art to which it pertains can make and use the same I have illustrated it on the two accompanying sheets of drawings forming a part of this specification and in which, Figure 1 is an elevation of a carrier built in accordance with my invention connecting the first, second and third floors of a building; Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of one of the pulley shaft adjustable brackets; Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a face view of one of the members shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is an end view of another member seen in Fig. 3 Fig. 6 is an enlarged elevation of the station seen in Fig. 1, on the third floor; Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the station seen in Fig. 6, and Fig. 8 is a similar view to Fig. 6, with the floor of the receiving station dropped to automatically send all parcels received at the station to the next 'stationin the system. Similar reference numerals 'refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The three floors of a building are represented at In, H and I2; a single belt l3 extends throughout the system and is double in its entire course except where it passes through a station.

The station on the lower floor Ill is provided with a belt tightener l4 arranged to slide vertically on the uprights l5 and automatically held in its uppermost position by a weight l6 secured to the end of a cable passing over suitable idlers ll, the other end of the cable being secured to the belt tightener l4 carrying the idler l8. A single strand of the belt l3 passes over the idler 18 thus tightening the belt I3 throughout its entire length.

The endless belt I3 is constantly driven by a suitable motor l9 preferably located at the low ermost station on the first floor Ill. The motor I9 is shownmounted on a platform. 20 made adjustableverticallyon the upright standards 15 sothat the belt 2lcan be tightened at will by lowering the platform 2-0;; The belt 21 (6X- tends from around the motor: pulley to around a large pulley22 secured to the same shaft as the pulley 23. The belt 13 passes about the pulley 23 and is thus constantlycdriven. As statedabove the belt -13 is doublethroughout except where it passes through a station. Eachstation is provided with a,;receiv=ingplatform'M and. a sending platform "25' and the. belt l3 extends about these two platforms -at;'each station in singlestrands, as clearly seen in Figs. 6 and '8'; The belt l 3 is constantly traveling in'the direc tion indicated by the arrows in Figs-l and '6. As shown the station on the second floor I I has, its receiving platform 24 stationary so that all parcels carried to this station will be delivered on said platform 24, but the station on the third floor I 2 hasits receiving platform 24 hinged at 26 so that parcelscarr-ied to this station may be delivered here, or may: be automatically passed through this station by swinging the platform 24 down as seen in Fig. 8.

.As shown in Fig. 6., the belt I3 is double as it passes up over-the idler: 21, leayi-ng'--idler 21 passing downward one strand of the belt passes to the left under idler 28 and 'the'other strand of thebeltpassesdown aroundthe left side of idler 29 thence down around the under side of idler30, thence tozthe left around the left side of idler 3| thence to the right over idler 32 and thence downward. The otherstrand of the beltl3 after passing-under the idler 28 passes and it will be understood that it is while the double belt is twisted as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

From experience it isfound that the double belt need betwisted only when there is considerable space between two idle pulleys over which the double belt passes.

Each receiving compartment is preferably provided with a shortextending shelf 34 a short distance below the idler 29 for the purpose .of

aiding to have the papers brought into the station and deposited by gravity in a fiat horizontal position upon the receiving platform 24. When the receiving platform is lowered as shown in Fig. 8, this extension or shelf 34 will also serve to have the papers slide down in proper position to have the advance edge enter between the two strands of the belt l3 passing about the idler3l, from. whence it will be carried between the two strands of the belt to the next succeeding station. The one side of each station is preferably closed by a sheet of metal to prevent molestation of the papers by air currents or unscrupulous persons. Each station is provided with one rectangular piece of sheet metal 35 and one triangular piece of sheet metal 36, each of which are made removable so that they can be placed on the proper side of the station. Each removable sheet is provided with a forked lower edge 31 to straddle the upper edge of the stationary side 38 and its upper edge is forced into proper position under suitable springs 39 secured to the stationary side piece 38. Suitable springs 40 are secured to the stationary frame to hold the receiving bottom 24 in place when in its up position. The platform 24 is preferably provided with two vertical rods 4| connecting its free end with the free end of a hinged plate 42 arranged to swing about the hinge 43, so that the plate 42 will always move in unison with the platform or bottom 24.

Suitable brace rods' or tubes 44 are connected between the uprights l5. The shafts 45 of all the idlers are preferably mounted in ball bearings and these are clamped tightly in brackets 46 which are secured adjustably to the uprights l5. As shown in Figs. 2 to 5 inclusive, the bracket 46 is adjustably secured to the pivot block 41 by set screw 48, the pivot block 41 is adjustably secured to the clamp 49 by the set screw 56 and the clamp 49 is adjust-ably secured to the upright l5 by the clamp screw 5|. The clamp screws 48, 56 and 5| are made the same length and interchangeable so that a novice assembling the mechanism cannot misplace the clamp screws. A set-screw 52 is provided to hold the bracket 46 in proper adjusted position. To enable such adjustment the pivot block 41 is'provided with a rectangular end 53 made to slide in the groove 54 provided in the one end of the elongated bracket 46. It will be noted that the pivot block 41 is made conical at 55 where it fits into a co-operating socket in the clamp 49. This construction makes a tight fit at this point and prevents any possible slipping.

It is seen from the above description that I have developed the belt drive to both accommodate the particular station arrangement and fit compactly in the stand or frame defining the station. The single belt sections are in the nature of a quadrilateral enclosure providing an platforms, the idler 30 being nested in the triangular space below the platform 25, so that all running and adjusting elements are outside the field of approach, making access tothe station and its contents safe at all times.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:-

1. In a device of the class described, a parcel receiving and sending station provided with an upright frame, a plurality of belt wheels, a receiving platform in the upper part of the station, a sending platform in the lower part of the station, a plurality of belts passing over said belt wheels, means for driving the belts and means "whereby the one end of the receiving platform can be lowered to deposit all received parcels on the sending platform to deliver the same between the departing belts.

2. In a device of the class described, as specified in claim 1 and means for retaining the one end of the receiving platform in either a raised or lowered position.

3. In a device of the class described, as specified in claim 1 and means movable in unison with the receiving platform for directing the incoming parcels downward toward the departing belts.

4. A belt conveyor comprising an upright frame, article receiving and sending platforms in the upper and lower parts thereof respectively, an article-depositing belt drive leading to the receiving platform, an article dispatching belt drive leading from the sending platform, and means to lower the receiving platform to direct received articles upon the sending platform for transfer to the dispatching belt drive.

5. A belt conveyor comprising an upright frame, a double belt drive entering the same at one side from above and separating, a pulley at the opposite side of the frame and receiving one belt section directed laterally from said drive and training the same downwardly along said opposite side, a second pulley below said drive receiving the other and downwardly directed belt section therefrom and training the same laterally toward the lower portion of said first belt section, a third pulley receiving said belt sections to combine them as a departing double belt drive, article receiving and sending means arranged in the quadrilateral enclosure formed by the said belt sections and cooperating respectively with the entering and departing double belt drives, the frame having laterally spaced pairs of corner posts at both sides, and said downwardly directed belt sections extending between correspondinglylocated pairs of corner posts.

6. A belt conveyor comprising an upright frame, a double belt drive entering the same at one side from above and separating, a pulley at the oppositeside of the frame and receiving one belt section directed laterally from said drive and training the same downwardly along said opposite side, a second pulley below said drive receiving the other and downwardly directed belt section therefrom and training the same laterally toward the lower portion of said first belt section, a third pulley receiving said belt sections to combine them as a departing double belt drive, article receiving and sending means arranged in the quadrilateral enclosure formed by the said belt sections and cooperating respectively with the entering and departing double belt drives, idlers carried by the first-mentioned side of the frame and receiving the laterally-directed belt sections underneath, and means to adjust the idlers downwardly to take up slack in such belt sections and maintain tension between said. drives.

7. A belt conveyor comprising an upright frame, a double belt drive entering the same at one side from above and separating, a pulley at the opposite side of the frame and receiving one belt section directed laterally from said drive and training the same downwardly along said opposite side, a second pulley below said drive receiving the other and downwardly directed belt section therefrom and training the same laterally toward the lower portion of said first belt section, a third pulley receiving said belt sections to comunder side of the inclined platform and the first- 10 mentioned side of the frame.

JAMES L. BALDWIN. 

